Urbanization Monitoring Department

ARIJ Urbanization Monitoring Department aims to impart facts regarding the geopolitical conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory; with particular emphasis on all Israeli related activities, which include the illegal development of Israeli settlements, the settlements' outposts, bypass roads, military restrictions, house demolishing, and the Segregation Wall; among others. The Urbanization Monitoring Department also assess the magnitude of these Israeli activities on the various aspects of the Palestinian society, including environmental impact, social bearing, and examines how these activities influence the political scene and the overall peace process. Thus, the objective of this department is to harvest related information, document it, and then disburse it to the public at large; locally and internationally, and to the officials at the national government and official representatives of other countries of the world; all of which aiming to raise general public awareness, in addition to supporting peace negotiators and civil society initiatives. ARIJ monitors the Israeli colonization process in detail, actual and on the ground, providing basic information for the Palestinian negotiating team. Additionally, ARIJ monitoring of the Palestinian geo-political and environment situations is recognized as a tool for increasing the awareness of the public understanding of the Palestinian situation.

The department prepares case studies, articles, and special reports through conducting field works, studies and interviews. The information is compiled in special web-based applications including geopolitical changes, in addition to special records such as segregation wall implications; land confiscation, trees uprooting, house demolition, settlement, and bypass construction, roads construction. Moreover, the department staff conducts public presentations and seminars, and prepares posters, fact sheets, maps, and handouts working with ARIJ GIS unit.

In its strategy, the urbanization department aims to establish bridges of exchanging solid information and facts on the geopolitical changes for the public opinion and decision makers, creating channels of communication on different levels to support essential input into the peace process. More germane, the department provides the related Palestinian ministries with consultancies, technical support, and services of measures and ways to plan sustainable development for Palestinian cities and city-regions in light of the many uncertainties that wrap the prolonged Israeli colonial project across the OPT. Furthermore, the department works cover a rich practical-based account of the Israeli colonization’s activities impacts and implications on the viability and sustainability of the Palestinian communities.